"We will be prepared to open training facilities Saturday," Goodell said Thursday. "It is time to get back to football. That is what everyone here wants to do."

The August 7 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game between the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams has been canceled due to time constraints, he said.

The league's 32 owners, who were meeting in Atlanta, agreed to end the current lockout in a 31-0 vote.

Player representatives scheduled an 8 p.m. conference call in which they are expected to discuss recertifying their union, said Coy Wire of the Atlanta Falcons.

"I do feel good" about the prospects, Wire told CNN.

A procedure may have to be resolved for 1,900 players to vote on a new agreement that would end the current lockout. That could take some time because players decertified their union earlier this year and an antitrust lawsuit was subsequently filed by players against the league.
While free agent players are anxious about being able to reach new contracts, Wire said, many players want to make sure "everything is looked at with precision."